National Reading Strategy

National Reading Strategy

National Reading Strategy
 National Reading Strategy

February 2008

All rights reserved. You may copy material from this publication for use in non-profit
education programmes if you acknowledge the source. For use in publications,
please get the written permission of the Department of Education.

Department of Education
Sol Plaatje House
123 Schoeman Street
PRETORIA

Private Bag X895

PRETORIA
0001

ISBN 177018-062-1

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 Acknowledgements

The Department of Education (DoE) wishes to acknowledge the following

individuals and organization who contributed in the development of National
Reading Strategy:

• READ Educational Trust

• Ms Deborah Botha
• Ms Nadia Bizos
• Ms Paula Gains
• Ms Delia Moris
• Dr Jean Place
• Ms Hazel Puwani
• Department of Education, Foundation Phase Curriculum Specialist
• Provincial Departments of Education, Foundation Curriculum Advisors

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Contents Page numbers

1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2. Why improve reading? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

3. The situation in South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

4. Specific challenges in implementing the National Reading Strategy. . . . . 8

i) Teacher competency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ii) Libraries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
iii) Teaching conditions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
iv) Print environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
v) Language issues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
vi) Inclusive Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

5. South Africa’s National Reading Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

6. Key pillars of the National Reading Strategy: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

6.1 Monitoring learner performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
6.2 Teaching practice and methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
6.3 Teacher training, development and support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
6.4 Management of the teaching of reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
6.5 Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6.6 Research, partnerships, and advocacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

7. Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

8. Reading Steps:

i What learners can do. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

ii Teaching Emphasis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

iii Resources you need to have or to make. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

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 Vision of the National Reading Strategy

Every South African learner will be a fluent reader who reads to learn, and reads
for enjoyment and enrichment.

1. Introduction

“To read is to empower

To empower is to write
To write is to influence
To influence is to change
To change is to live.”1

We all have a responsibility to get involved in the national effort to combat

illiteracy. In 2001 and 2004, the Department of Education conducted two national
systemic evaluations to establish literacy and numeracy levels in primary schools.
These surveys showed shockingly low levels of reading ability across the country.
Large numbers of our children simply do not read. The Department of Education
continues to investigate why the levels of reading are so poor, and to find ways to
deal with the problem. This National Strategy for Reading is part of its response.

In developing this National Strategy for Reading, South Africa is participating in

a number of United Nations development campaigns. These include the UNESCO
Literacy Decade 2003-2013, and the Education for All (EFA) campaign, which aim
to increase literacy rates by 50% by the year 2015. Underpinning these campaigns,
are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Literacy promotion is at the heart
of the MDGs.

Leading world nations pride themselves in promoting reading in all aspects of life –
in homes, in schools, at work, in public places. Literacy takes many forms: on paper,
on the computer screen, on TV, on posters and signs. Literate people take their
skills for granted - but illiterate people are excluded from much communication
in today’s world.

South Africa faces many challenges in promoting literacy. It is rare to find schools
with well-used general libraries. Many homes have no books. Books in African
languages are scarce, so children do not have the opportunity to read in their home
language. Some classrooms have no books, and even those classes which do have
sets of readers, often have them at the wrong level. Poor matriculation results are
in part due to the low levels of students’ reading skills. University students – even
those enrolled for the languages and the arts – are not proficient in reading, in

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terms of international standards. Overcoming these challenges is not going to be
an easy task. This National Reading Strategy aims to promote a nation of life-long
readers and life-long learners.

2. Why improve reading?

Reading is part of nation building.

• Reading promotes confidence as an individual in a modern society, and as a
member of a national and world community.
• Reading enables us to act creatively and critically in a world which is ever-
changing and competitive.
• Reading provides rapid, ready access to new information and knowledge
that will help us in life-long learning.

The main goal of this National Reading Strategy is to improve the reading
competence of learners. The Strategy aims to improve the reading level of all
learners in the country, including those who experience barriers to learning and
those learners who are at special schools and youth care centres.

More broadly, this National Reading Strategy will have these benefits:
• Help learners to move through the education system;
• Improve matriculation results;
• Improve people’s capacity to communicate in an ever-changing world;
• Bring economic benefits for the country by producing workers who are
competent in their reading and writing skills.

The Department of Education, working closely with the provincial Departments of

Education, promotes this Reading Strategy.

3. The situation in South Africa?

The Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy2 states this important aim:
Ensure that every South African is able to read, write, count and think.

This statement underpins the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). It was an

essential factor when the curriculum learning outcomes were designed.

However, systemic evaluations – those conducted by the Department of Education,

provincial Departments of Education as well as international bodies – show that
learners in South African schools performed poorly when tested for their ability
to read at age-appropriate levels.

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 Figure 1: Language competence of Intermediate Phase learners in South Africa,
2005

This diagram shows the results of the Systemic Evaluation3 which was conducted on
Intermediate Phase learners : 14% of learners were outstanding in their language
competence; 23% were satisfactory or partly competent, but a big majority – 63%
were below the required competence for their age level.

Figure 2: Learning Outcome 3 – Reading and Viewing

The diagram above shows the results for Intermediate Phase Learning Outcome 3

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– Reading and Viewing. This LO states: “The learner will be able to read and view
for information and enjoyment, and respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural
and emotional values in texts.” However, only 51% of learners were able to read
at an age-appropriate level. Thus, for half of the learners, the Learning Outcome
was not achieved. This has important implications:

• Learners’ language competence affects their performance in all subjects, at

all grades. Poor language competence limits conceptual development.
• If reading competence is poor, then learners’ writing competence will be
poor, and their comprehension (understanding) levels will equally be poor.

Why don’t teachers raise the standards? The problem is that most teachers who
are teaching beyond Foundation Phase are not trained to teach basic reading.
They don’t know how to help struggling readers.

Language “mismatches” make the problem worse:

• the language of home and school do not match in many cases;
• the language of the resources at school, e.g. books, posters, generally do not
match the home language of the learner.

International research shows that in most developing countries, illiteracy is a

severe problem. More than half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa and South
Asia have no literacy skills. But richer countries are also struggling to meet literacy
challenges.

Poor literacy and numeracy are generally related to historical disadvantages and
poor socio-economic conditions. In South Africa, there are a number of specific
reasons for the problems, and these need to be addressed in implementing the
National Reading Strategy.

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 4. Specific challenges in implementing the National Reading Strategy

i) Teacher competency

Many teachers in South Africa have an under-developed understanding of

teaching literacy, reading and writing. Many teachers simply don’t know how to
teach reading. Too often, teachers know only one method of teaching reading,
which may not suit the learning style of all learners. Teachers don’t know how to
stimulate reading inside, and outside, the classroom.

There has been a misunderstanding about the role of the teacher in teaching
reading in Curriculum 2005 and in the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). For
years, many teachers believed that they did not have to “teach” reading, but
simply had to “facilitate” the process; they believed that learners would teach
themselves to read. The expectation that teachers had to develop their own
teaching materials and reading programmes further aggravated the situation for
teachers; they had no experience in developing material. In the past, they relied
heavily on textbooks – even if the teacher had only one book in the class.

Many Foundation Phase teachers have not been explicitly trained to teach
reading. That is why they find it difficult to help learners with reading difficulties.
Consequently, many teachers have resorted to rote teaching as the only option,
and tend to be satisfied with rote learning by their learners.

The Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA) Survey in 19994 found that the
employment of under/unqualified teachers, particularly in the Foundation Phase,
and in rural schools, has been a common practice. Inevitably, the employment
of such teachers has had a negative impact on the quality of teaching and has
contributed to the poor performance of learners.

ii) Libraries

The majority of schools in the MLA Survey (1999) had no access to libraries. This
also impacts negatively on the quality of teaching and learning. Results of the
survey were:

• 25,145 schools were surveyed in South Africa in 1999

• 22,101 schools had no space for a school library
• 3,388 had space for a library, but had no books in the library
• Only 1,817 schools had library space that was stocked with books, i.e. just
over 7% of the schools in South Africa

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In the absence of school or community libraries, classroom collections of books can
promote reading and understanding. Unfortunately, classroom collections were
found in only 25% of the schools. Mobile libraries are currently being introduced
in a number of provinces. The main advantage of mobile libraries is that they can
take books to learners. The lack of libraries is especially significant in a country
where many learners and their parents cannot afford to buy books.

iii) Teaching conditions

Crowded and dilapidated classrooms hinder the implementation of the National

Curriculum Statement (NCS). High learner-educator ratios, combined with poor
physical conditions and inadequate facilities for teaching and learning, such as
inadequate instructional support materials, make it even more difficult to deliver
quality education.

iv) Print Environment

The MLA Survey found that about 40% of the parents interviewed had not
completed primary education. In the majority of the provinces, about 60% of the
parents had either not completed primary school, or had not achieved education
levels higher than primary school.

Educational background of parents has a strong influence on their children’s

achievement. Uneducated parents, or parents with little education, find it difficult
to help their children if they themselves do not understand the tasks that their
children are doing.

The MLA survey also showed that a very small percentage of interviewed households
had access to books. (Only about a quarter of the parents were members of a
library, and more than 50% of them had access to fewer than 10 books.) Where
printed materials are lacking, learners are likely to have difficulties with reading
and spelling.5

v) Language issues

Despite the Language-in-Education Policy of 19976, it is still the case that most
learners in South Africa do not learn in their mother tongue. Most schools have
inadequate language policies which do not address the learning needs of the
learners. They do not ensure the right of learners – especially Foundation Phase
learners – to learn in their mother tongue. This is a serious problem.

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 Foundation Phase teachers have generally not been taught to teach reading in
the home language of African learners. There is also the problem that African
languages are structured differently from English or Afrikaans.

Interestingly, recent research in the Western Cape7 showed that although Afrikaans
learners in Afrikaans schools learn in Afrikaans at the Foundation Phase, and
they hear it daily on radio and TV, many of these learners perform less than their
English counterparts. There are possibly many reasons for this phenomenon, but it
has been suggested that socio-economic factors are part of these explanations.

vi) Inclusive Education

Learners who experience barriers to learning often do not receive the support
that they need to become fluent readers. This is despite the policies of Inclusive
Education8 that recognize the special needs of learners in all sectors of education.

5. South Africa’s National Reading Strategy

5.1 Why do we need this National Reading Strategy?

This National Reading Strategy is the response of the Minister and Department
of Education to promote reading in schools in South Africa. It is a management
tool that states the vision for improving the competence and levels of reading
of learners. This Strategy indicates how the Department of Education intends to
achieve that vision.

South Africa’s education system needs a common approach to promote reading.

In this way, we can create synergy between teachers and all role players who
support teachers. We can build confidence in what needs to be done.

The National Reading Strategy is inclusive because it aims to reach all learners,
including those who experience barriers to learning, whether they are in
mainstream or special schools. A common approach does not mean that all
children must be taught in the same way at the same time. Good education allows
for different contexts – it differentiates between children, and does not treat all
children in class as a single unit.

Learning to read occurs not only in the Foundation Phase at school. Learning
begins from birth, so children should be stimulated from an early age.

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The exposure that children experience early in their lives, influences how they
cope later in life. Early Childhood Education (ECD) targets children between 0 – 4
years of age, including pregnant mothers. Wherever possible, if there are learning
problems, these should be identified early and acted upon. Providing access to
Grade R for all learners is another way of recognizing the importance of early
learning.

Programmes at this level focus on the development of:

• Critical thinking and problem solving
• Abilities to communicate and use language
• Physical, motor abilities and healthy well-being

While this strategy focuses largely on primary school learners, it recognises that
learning – especially the development of reading skills – is a life-long practice that
continues into high school and beyond.

5.2 Purpose of the National Reading Strategy

The purpose of the National Reading Strategy is:

• To put reading firmly on the school agenda,
• To clarify and simplify curriculum expectations,
• To promote reading across the curriculum,
• To affirm and advance the use of all languages,
• To encourage reading for enjoyment. This is a legitimate aspect of the
teaching of reading, and
• To ensure that not only teachers, learners and parents, but also the broader
community understand their role in improving and promoting reading.

5.3 Intended outcome of the National Reading Strategy

The desired outcome of the Strategy is that all learners must be able to read basic
texts by the end of Grade 3. After that, all learners will develop reading and
comprehension skills according to the requirements of each grade level.

5.4 Principles of the National Reading Strategy

The principles upon which the National Reading Strategy is based on, is:
• Every learner has the right to quality education
• All children, with the appropriate support, can be taught to read
• Reading is a foundational skill for all learning
• Learners have the right to learn to read in their mother tongue, especially
at Foundation Phase level

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 The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) takes as its starting point the same
position as the International Reading Association which states that:

“There is no single method or single combination of methods that can

successfully teach all children to read. Therefore teachers must have a strong
knowledge of multiple methods for teaching reading and a strong knowledge
of the children in their care so they can create the appropriate balance of
methods needed for the children they teach.”9

The Overview of the National Curriculum Statement includes literacy as an

important feature of life-long learners: “The learner is able to read and view for
information and enjoyment, and respond critically to the aesthetic, cultural and
emotional values in texts.”

5.5 Who is involved?

The National Reading Strategy requires the involvement and commitment of a

range of role players
• First, the learner is central to improved reading competence. Ultimately it is
the learner who should want to improve, so that s/he can read fluently and
with comprehension.
• Second, the teacher has to actively teach reading, supported by the principal
and school management team (SMT) who must create an environment that
promotes reading and the teaching of reading.
• Third, parents and the community need to value reading and books. Wherever
possible, they need to read to their children and encourage them to practise
reading.
• Finally, the Department of Education (DoE) at all levels – national, provincial
and district – must provide the necessary resources and support required for
the National Reading Strategy to succeed.

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The following diagramme depicts important stakeholders in the teaching and
promotion of reading among learners.

6. Key pillars of the National Reading Strategy

The National Reading Strategy builds on six key pillars for success in South African
schools. The six pillars are:
i) Monitoring learner performance
ii) Teaching practice and methodology
iii) Teacher training, development and support
iv) Management of the teaching of reading
v) Resources
vi) Research, partnerships and advocacy

6.1 Monitoring learner performance

The essential focus of the National Reading Strategy is to enable learners to read
fluently and with comprehension. Monitoring learners’ progress is a critical part
of the Strategy. This monitoring will take place through the National Systemic
Evaluation at Grade 3 and Grade 6 levels. Provincial Education Departments also
conduct systemic evaluations to monitor reading competencies.

Learner improvement depends on teachers being able to assess the reading level
of each and every learner. Teachers need to be able to measure whether their
teaching methodologies in the classroom have resulted in improved reading by

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 learners. To enable teachers to assess reading performance, the Department of
Education is providing teachers in the Foundation Phase with Early Grade Reading
Assessment tools. These tools will be available in all official languages, and will be
used to establish benchmarks for reading competence in South African schools.
Continuous assessment is embedded in current teaching practices; it assists
teachers in monitoring the ongoing progress of the learners, and supports and
guides further development.

Monitoring and support of any strategy are essential elements to ensure effective
service delivery. The function of the Department of Education in this regard is to
monitor standards of teaching and learning in all schools. This monitoring will
assess whether the education system has achieved the reading goals by measuring
the performance of learners. The results of all research, monitoring and evaluation
will be used by the education system to enhance the work that is being done in
the classroom.

6.2 Teaching practice and methodology

Teaching happens in a special relationship between a teacher and a learner. The

teacher has to be trusted to provide each and every learner with the competence
and skills of reading, and the love for reading. The best teacher of reading is a
teacher who conveys not only the value of reading, but also the joy of reading.
Reading is a competence that teachers have to actively teach since learners do not
simply “pick up” reading skills. There is no clear pathway for progress in learning
to read unless the teacher has a plan for teaching the learners how to read.

Teachers need to know what is expected of learners. They need to know precisely
how to help learners to achieve satisfactory reading levels, and where necessary,
they should ask for extra professional support. There are computer DVDs which
show learners reading at different levels; teachers can use these DVDs to establish
appropriate expectations and standards. DVDs which show good reading and
classroom management practices can also help teachers to learn about good
practices to apply in their classrooms.

The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) provides for approximately 10 hours per
week for the teaching of reading and writing in the Foundation Phase. The NCS
also gives guidance on a balanced approach to the teaching of literacy. The five
critical areas of reading that need to be taught are phonics, phonemic awareness,
fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.

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A good reading teacher allows for different learners’ learning styles. Learners
should know a range of techniques to help them to reach appropriate reading
levels, with comprehension for information and enjoyment. Teachers should use
a range of methods. Too often, teachers use whole class reading from the same
book as the only reading experience in the classroom.

To meet the crisis of reading, one of the practices promoted by the Department
of Education is that all schools (especially primary schools) should arrange an
additional half hour per day to “Drop All and Read”. This campaign creates a
culture of reading in the classroom and in the school. Everyone – from learner to
teacher, principal and support staff – can be seen reading for enjoyment for half
an hour a day. If learners enjoy reading, this will raise literacy levels and improve
the ability of learners to learn.

A reading recovery programme will be made available for learners who, owing to
a variety of circumstances, are unable to master reading skills in the early grades

6.3 Teacher training, development and support

Teachers are key to the successful teaching of reading. Teacher training,

development and support are therefore a key pillar of the National Reading
Strategy. The Department of Education will provide teachers with a manual on
reading strategies10. This manual will contain practical guidelines and strategies
for teaching reading in Grades R-6.

In addition, Teacher Guidelines on strategies to address the strengths and

weaknesses revealed by the Systemic Evaluation will be distributed to all schools.
The Early Grade Reading Assessment provides teachers with a tool for assessing
the reading competence of the learners, as well as a range of other resources. The
Department will also develop and maintain a catalogue of appropriate Learning
and Teaching Support Material for the General Education and Training band; this
will include material for teaching and supporting reading.

To support teacher development, accredited training courses in strategies for

teaching reading will be offered at tertiary institutions. These courses will enable
teachers to earn credit points in accordance with the South African Council for
Educators (SACE) requirements for continuous professional teacher development.
Teacher development programmes in reading strategies, for both pre-service and
in-service teachers, will focus on the pedagogy of reading, and give special guidance

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 for teaching reading in mother tongue. The Advanced Certificate Education (ACE)
in school leadership will offer training in the management of the curriculum and
reading programmes.

District curriculum officials will provide further support. These curriculum officials
will be specially trained in reading strategies. They will help teachers by mediating
the reading material and other resources that will be made available to teachers.

Family literacy programmes will help parents to support their children in their
reading. Families are encouraged to take responsibility to ensure that reading
continues even after the bell has rung for the end of the school day.

Business and other organizations that wish to support the National Reading
Strategy will help by supplying schools with some of the selected materials,
providing incentives and showing an interest in the work of the teachers and
learners at particular schools.

6.4 Management of the teaching of reading

Good management and leadership are essential for successful teaching and
learning. The principal needs to show a relentless determination in pursuing the
National Reading Strategy. The principal is responsible for the reading programme
in the school, by at least taking the following steps: organizing staff training and
support in the teaching of reading; recognizing achievement amongst learners
and teachers; and involving parents in the reading programme.

It is the principal’s responsibility to ensure that:

• every learner learns to read,

• steps are taken to promote reading,
• reading strategies are integrated in all school subjects, and
• a culture of reading is instilled in the school.

It is essential that the principal takes a direct and personal interest in reading in
the school.

Heads of Department within the school and district officials, including the district
director will support the principal in the management and leadership of the
reading campaign. At a provincial and national level, senior officials will take

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responsibility for leading, managing and driving reading improvement. At a
national level, the Minister of Education heads the drive to improve reading.

6.5 Resources

There is no doubt that a good learning and text-rich environment in schools

encourages children to perform better. Teachers need adequate resources for
the teaching of reading. The Department has mounted a “Drop All and Read”
campaign in which Grade R and Grade 1 learners are provided with personal story
books and bags. They can take these books home to read, enjoy and experience
the pleasure of possessing their own books.

Good readers need access to good reading material. Learners need access to
appropriate reading books throughout the school year, and they should be able to
take books home in order to practise reading. Magazines and other materials can
also enrich the reading experience, and encourage the whole family to engage in
reading. The Department is organizing campaigns to provide schools with good
reading materials – books, magazines and even comics!

Schools who are part of the Quality Improvement, Development and Support
Upliftment Programme (QIDS-UP) will receive a range of reading support materials
in the form of a Reading Toolkit. Schools can order a complete range of reading
programmes/schemes in all 11 official languages (through the General Education
& Training Band Learning and Teaching Support Material Catalogue). A number of
schools in disadvantaged communities have already been supplied with reference
materials, including multi-lingual dictionaries to support reading in all 11 official
languages.

As part of the National Reading Strategy, all Foundation and Intermediate Phase
classrooms will have a “reading/library corner”, with exciting story books in all
the languages spoken in the class. These reading corners will have story books
for learners and reference materials for teachers and learners, to help them to
effectively implement the NCS.

The Department has already provided packs of 100 reading books (called the
“100 Story Books Campaign”) to schools in disadvantaged communities
to support classroom libraries. Other schools are expected to set aside
funds to ensure that teachers are able to create library or reading corners
in their classrooms. The Intermediate Phase classes in 2000 schools will be
receiving reading books written by teachers in the ITHUBA Writing Project.

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 Libraries are the backbone of all reading communities. The Department is
collaborating with the Department of Arts and Culture in developing a joint Library
Strategy. Together, the Departments will provide classroom libraries, the use of
mobile libraries to serve clusters of schools, block loans from provincial education
libraries, partnerships with municipal and provincial libraries, and ultimately the
development of fully stocked libraries in schools

6.6 Research, partnerships and advocacy

In all these reading projects and plans, the Department will ensure that its
strategies, pedagogy and support materials are modern and at the cutting edge.
Although the Department does conduct some of its own research, it relies heavily
on universities and other specialist reading organizations to assist.11

The Department of Education is working hard to promote these reading campaigns

with all its teachers, principals, district officials and parent communities. However,
we realize that it will be difficult to turn the tide in reading achievement in the
country, and sustain improvement. We need the ongoing support of non-profit
organizations, the higher education community, the business community, and the
broader community. The Department welcomes partners in these campaigns to
improve reading. Preferably, all interventions by partners – in training, or the
provision of resources – will be aligned to the National Reading Strategy and be
approved by the national, provincial or district office.

Furthermore, the Department of Education will publicise successes in this campaign,

as well as ways in which learners can be supported. We believe that success of the
implementation will be measurable in terms of learner performance.

A national communication drive will be conducted to ensure that reading is

“everybody’s business”. Direct communication systems will be set up with school
principals and teachers to share expectations, experiences and best practice. In
the longer term, the Department will introduce book clubs to support reading for
enjoyment.

As part of the campaign, we will celebrate International Literacy Week, World

Book Day and International Library Week, both at school level and in the media.

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CONCLUSION

Reading is, without doubt, the most important linguistic skill that needs to be
developed in young children. Reading serves as a building block upon which all
other learning takes place. Reading can also be fun. By developing a love for
reading in young children, we will be giving them one of the greatest gifts of life,
namely, life-long learning.

This National Reading Strategy takes as its focus that reading failure begins in
early grades, and it is at that level that interventions must made.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Evershed Jane, More Than a Tea Party (1996)

2. South Africa. National Department of Education (1999) Manifesto on

Values, Education and Democracy

3. South Africa. National Department of Education (2005) – Intermediate Phase

Systematic Evaluation

4. South Africa. National Department of Education /UNESCO/UNICEF (1999)

Monitoring and Learning Achievement

5. South African Book Development Council (2007) National Survey into the
Reading and Book Reading Behavior of South African Adults

6. South Africa. National Department of Education (1997) Language-in-

Education Policy

7. Western Cape Department of Education (2005) Systemic Testing: Grade 6

8. South Africa. National Department of Education (2001) Education White

Paper 6 – Special Needs in Education, Building an Inclusive Education and
Training System.

9. Rog J.L. (2000) International Reading Association: Guided Reading Basics

10. South Africa. National Department of Education, ( 2008) Teaching Reading

in Early Grades

11. The ITHUBA Writing Projects, National Department of Education, USAID and
the University of Texas in San Antonio, (2006-2008) Pretoria

12. READ Education Trust (2008) Reading Steps , Johannesburg

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